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Skin cancer is now the most common cancer in the U.S. but is preventable by using good judgment. Thirteen new studies confirm what most of us have suspected, that protecting your skin from damaging UV rays with clothing, sunscreen, hats, sunglasses and shade, decreases sunburns, tanning and the formation of moles—all factors in developing a [...]
So far in this series, we’ve covered the Indian Health Service, the ”638’s” administered by tribes and tribal organizations, and Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance Plan. This week focuses on the Affordable Care Act & the Indian Healthcare Improvement Act. American Indians wishing to buy health insurance in the Health Insurance Marketplace won’t need [...]
The Top 5 things that kill people in the US are: heart disease, cancer, lung disease such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis, stroke and injuries. In fact- these 5 conditions cause 63% of all deaths in the US — which is nearly 18,000 people each year in AZ (about 50 people/day in AZ). This week [...]
We use a lot of CDC grants in Arizona to promote public health. I’ve talked about what we do with the Maternal and Child Health, as well as the Behavioral Health, grants in previous blogs. There’s another grant that lets us focus on issues that are specifically tailored to Arizona. The Preventive Health block grant helps fund our [...]
You may be contributing to one of Arizona’s biggest public health problems and not even realize it. Arizona has the 6th highest rate in the country for prescription drug misuse and drug overdose death. What’s really frightening is that more than 90% of Arizona youth that misuse prescription drugs get them from family and friends. The [...]
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Those of you in Public Health Licensing have heard me talk about the difference between compliance and enforcement more than once. They’re 2 different things. Compliance means that a licensed healthcare, residential or childcare facility meets our standards and expectations. Enforcement is an action that we occasionally take in order to get a facility into [...]
Last week the ASH Pharmacy began having problems with the computer system that the medical staff use to order prescriptions for patients. Orders weren’t consistently showing up on the pharmacy computer screen or printing out. We implemented our back-up system right away, but the temporary work-around was time consuming. Our Information Technology team made this their [...]
Like a hotshot team, a rapid response by public health is essential to stopping the spread of measles in unvaccinated persons… and disease detectives in Maricopa County are currently working to squash a measles outbreak right now. Last week a person with measles visited a restaurant, church and airport in Arizona, exposing over a thousand [...]
In the next few weeks many AZ teens will be attending proms. While proms can have positive memories, the experiences can turn tragic when alcohol is part of the mix. Alcohol impairs judgment… potentially leading to sexual assault, unplanned pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections and deadly car crashes. Car crashes are the leading cause of death among teens… [...]
